Custom cars such as hot rods, muscle cars, old time cars and the like are very popular throughout the United States and other parts of the world. Such custom cars may be constructed and built from kits or may be stock cars that were manufactured by the well-known automotive car companies (e.g., Ford). Many custom cars (e.g., 1967 Ford Thunderbird) employ what is referred to as “suicide” doors. A suicide door is a car door that is hinged about the rear edge, i.e., the edge closer to the rear of the vehicle. Accordingly, a suicide door opens by swinging the door from front to back. Suicide doors may also be installed on vehicles which were not manufactured with them in place. In other words, suicide doors may be installed as an aftermarket product on vehicles. There is, however, a safety concern with respect to suicide doors opening if they inadvertently become unlatched while the car is moving.
Thus, there exists a need for an effective door locking mechanism that can be easily installed and operated to maintain the doors of cars in a secure and locked position when desired.